Apparatus for handling liquid filled flexible pouches

ABSTRACT

A liquid pouch handling apparatus which includes a pivoting cradle adapted to collect a plurality of pouches and then drop them into an outer bag held by a pair of oppositely pivoting jaws below the cradle, and sealing stations adjacent the path of the outer flexible bag and liquid filled pouches whereby tension fingers are included for engaging the open end of the outer bag and retaining it under tension while the top of the bag is being sealed by heat-sealing means.

United States Patent 1191 Chlipalski 1 Dec. 18, 1973 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LIQUID 3,585,782 6/1971 Staley 53/159 FILLED FLEXIBLE POUCHES 2,899,788 8/1959 Beebe, Jr 53/187 X [76] Inventor: gz g g gz gztz 2 123? Primary ExaminerAndrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-W. D. Bray [22] Filed: Mar. 28, 1972 AttrneyAlan Swabey [21] Appl. No.: 238,873

[57] ABSTRACT 521 US. (:1 53/159, 53/61, 53/187, A liquid Pouch handling apparatus which includes a 214/6C pivoting cradle adapted to collect a plurality of 511 int. 01 B65b 35/56 Pouches and drop them into Outer bag held by [58] Field of Search 53/61, 159, 187, a P of oppositely pivoting jaws below the cradle, 53/3 373 75 1 2 1 3 2 214 C, 6 D and sealing stations adjacent the path of the outer flexible bag and liquid filled pouches whereby tension [56] References Cited fingers are included for engaging the open end of the UNITED STATES PATENTS outer bag and retaining it under tension while the top of the bag is being sealed by heat-sealing means. 3,698,153 10/1972 Lieberman 3,604,18! 9/1971 Adcox 53/61 18 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures I11 1 6:4 \t 1 l l 46 22 6? w a l 1 '62 .1ll .1111l llllll I .11lllllllll I I 2 0 1111'" 1' v 1 l lllll Y n'll 65 111' '1 I l 7 l Ill {"I. d l a I l |l l1 n H 111 .1111 'i l A n" .1 1 ll 1 PATENTED 05m 8 I915 SWIG? PAIENTED mzm ems SHEER? Pmmmm'm 3.778.972

SHEET S [If T M521 10047 954 I //Za 94 PATENTED DEC] 8 I975 sum 6 or PATENTEnnEm ems SHEET'IUF? APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LIQUID FILLED FLEXIBLE POUCHES BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field Of Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying a plurality of flexible liquid filled pouches into an outer flexible container.

2. Description of Prior Art In recent years, many developments have taken place in the handling of liquids and the most important of these developments has been in the packaging of liquids in flexible sealed pouches or bags such as polyethylene pouches. Such pouches may be of the half-gallon, quart or smaller size and are commonly used for packaging milk and other dairy prepared liquids, petroleum products, etc. This method of packaging is considered more economical than previously used rigid containers.

However, the handling of such flexible pouches creates problems inherent in the flexibility of such pouches. For instance, it has been found preferable for distribution purposes to group two, three and even four quart size pouches of milk in a larger flexible container. However, it is not possible in conventional packaging apparatus to package a plurality of flexible pouches into a flexible outer container.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is an aim of the present invention to provide an apparatus for handling and packaging a plurality of pouches in an outer bag.

A construction in accordance with the present invention comprises means for advancing and feeding a plurality of elongated articles one by one and an article receiving cradle having at least an end wall and a retractible bottom wall, means pivoting the cradle between a first position whereby said end wall is inclined from the vertical below the angle of rest of said articles and adapted to receive a plurality of articles fed from the advancing means stacked in side-by-side relation in the cradle, and a second position wherein said end wall is above the angle of rest of said articles, means adapted to retract said bottom wall when the cradle is in said second position, means below and adjacent said bottom wall when said cradle is in the second position for opening and locating a container for receiving the articles as the articles are dropped simultaneously from the cradle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:

FIG. I is a front elevation of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation thereof;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross section taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the apparatus showing a detail thereof in an operating position;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIG. 5 showing a further operating position of a detail of the apparatus;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIGS. 5 and 6 and showing details of the apparatus in still a further operating position;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross section taken along lines 88 of FIG. ll;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a detail of the apparatus;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a further detail of the apparatus; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged end elevation of the detail shown in FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. I to 4, the apparatus is shown having a frame 60, adjustable on a stand 10, on which there is mounted a conveyor unit 12 adapted to feed pouches P in line to a cradle 14 which in turn drops the pouches past a bag opening assembly 15 into bags held by the assembly 15. Pouches P in the bag continue to drop onto a conveying table at which time they are pushed to either side alternately to sealing units 18 and 20.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 5, the conveyor unit 12 includes a conveyor mounting bracket 22 and a conveyor belt 24. The bracket 22 mounts side walls 44 on either side of the conveyor. Conveyor belt 24 passes about adjustable tension pulley 26 rotating about stationary shaft 28, and about pulley 30 mounted about driven shaft 32. Shaft 32 rotates in bearings 34 as shown in FIG. 2. A sprocket 36 is fixed to the shaft 32 and a motor 38 is mounted on the bracket 22. A chain 40 passes over the sprocket 36 from the motor 38 to drive the shaft 32 and therefore the pulley 30. The roller 42 is provided to maintain the proper space on the belt 24 to allow for the motor mounting. The angle of the conveyor is adjustable by means of a slot 46 provided in the bracket 22, and adjustable screw 48, which when tightened maintains the conveyor at a given angle relative to the bracket 22.

A pair of pivot arms 52 which pivot about pivot axis 54 on the side walls 44 mount a roller 50. The pivot arms 52 and roller are urged in a counterclockwise direction by means of a spring 56. An adjustable abutment screw 58 is provided to limit the counterclockwise movement of the pivot arms 52 and roller 50.

The cradle 14 is mounted on the frame 60, and the frame 60 is adjustable relative to the stand 10 by means of adjustment screws 62. There is a guide wall 64 on the front side of the cradle 14 which is mounted to frame 60 which together form the bearing housing for shaft 66. The cradle 14 includes a side wall and an end wall 72. Teflon rails 74 are provided on the end wall 72.

There is a bottom wall 76 which is pivoted to side wall 70 by means of hinge 78. A cam follower 80 is provided on the bottom wall 76 and cooperates with cam 82 mounted to the frame 60. An abutment 84 is mounted laterally of the frame 60 to limit the clockwise pivoting movement of the cradle 14. A bracket 88 is mounted to the frame 60 and a piston and cylinder arrangement 86 which is mounted at one end to the bracket 88 and at the other end to a bracket 90 on the cradle provides the positive pivotal movement of the cradle 14 with the shaft 66. A tension spring 92 is provided between the brackets 88 and 90 urging the cradle in a clockwise direction.

In operation, the conveyor belt 24 advances the pouches one by one and they are dropped into the cradle 14 as they pass the delivery zone represented by the pulley 26. The roller 50 which is normally spaced above the conveyor 24 a distance which is slightly less than the normal thickness of the pouch P rides over the top of the pouch P as the pouches are advanced and is effective to keep the pouches from somersaulting into the cradle. As the pouches leave the conveyor, they tend to land in the cradle with their longitudinal axes substantially parallel to the plane of the end walls 72.

The cradle, when in a receiving position, is abutted against the abutment member 84 so that the pouches P, as they are being delivered one by one from the conveyor assembly 12, are stacked side by side over the end wall 72. In the position shown in FIG. 6, the cam follower 80 abuts against the surface 83 of the cam 82 thereby retaining the bottom wall at a 90 angle to the wall 7 and closing the bottom of the cradle. As the cylinder 86 is activated to pivot the cradle 14 in a counterclockwise direction, the cam follower 80 will then follow the angled surface 85 of the cam 82 allowing the bottom wall 76 to be retracted and allowing the plurality of pouches P to drop from the cradle in unison. The cradle can be adjusted to receive two, three or even four pouches. If it is to receive more than two pouches, the bottom wall 76 can be replaced by a longer bottom eall. Similarly, the trigger 124 is actuated by the last pouch of a predetermined group to activate the cylinder 86 by means of a control circuit in the control box 21. The position of the trigger 124 can be adjusted since it is mounted on the guide wall 64 in relation to the predetermined number of pouches in each group.

Referring now to FIGS. through 7, there is shown a mechanism for opening the outer bags in which the pouches P are to be contained. The outer bags are retained on a wicket 16 which is made up of a plate detachably connected toa side panel of the frame 60 and from which a pair of projecting pins extend and on which a plurality of outer bags are mounted. Each exposed outer bag is first blown open by nozzles 118 and lmounted on the frame 60 and protruding from control box 21. The bag opening assembly will now be described in detail.

The bag opening assembly 15 includes two opposed sub-assemblies mounted on brackets connected to the frame 60. The bracket 94 is mounted fixedly to the frame, while the bracket 96 is suspended from the frame 60 by means of adjustment screws and knobs 97. The bracket 96 also includes an upstanding guide wall 99 which cooperates with the cradle. The guide wall 99 includes a pair of parallel tetlon guide rails 101. Since the sub-assemblies 94 and 96 of the bag opening assembly 15 are identical, only sub-assembly 96 will be described, while the corresponding parts in the subassembly 94 will be identified with the subscript a.

Referring to bracket 96, there is provided a piston and cylinder arrangement 98 and a clevis 100 at the end of the piston rod. Arm 108 is pivoted about a fixed pivot axis 110. An arm 102 is pivotally mounted to arm 108 through hinge 106 and a shovel-shaped jaw 104 is fixed to the end of the arm 102. The arm 102 is also pivoted to the clevis 100 at the other end thereof. A spring 112 is also connected to the arm 108 and to the bracket 96. Finally, an abutment projection 114 is strategically located on the bracket 96, as will be described further.

In operation, when the cradle 14 is in its loading position as shown in FlG. 5, the opposed piston and cylinder arrangements 98 and 98a are in their fully extended position such that the arm 108 is abutted against the abutment projection 114 forcing the arm 102 to retain the jaw 104 at an angle so that the bottoms of the jaws 104 and 104a are in close proximity. As the cradle is being filled, the nozzles 1 18 and are, of course, activated to open an exposed outer bag. Simultaneously, the piston and cylinder arrrangements are retracted such that the jaws 104 and 104a will pivot downwardly into the bag and into vertical positions, as shown in FIG. 6, since arms 102 and 102a pivot about the pivot point 106. The arm 108 remains in the position shown in FIG. 6 since it is urged there by the spring 112. The jaws 104 and 104a will remain in a vertical position as the arm 102 abuts against the slide block 113 and as the piston is further retracted within the cylinders 98 and 98a, the arms 102 and 102a will slide on the block 113 forcing the arms 108 and 108a against the springs 112 and 112a until the jaws 104 and 104a reach the position abutting the slide block 113 as shown in FIG. 7. in this position, the jaws have expanded the mouth of the bag slightly so that the bag is securely retained by the jaws 104 and 104a for receiving the pouches P from the cradle as shown in FIG. 7, when the bottom wall 76 is retracted to drop the pouches P.

It is interesting to note that the jaws 104 and 104a go through two subsequent movements in opening the bag, that is, first a pivoting movement such that the ends'of the jaws 104 and 104a easily enter into the bag and then as jaws pivot to a vertical position, they are then pulled back linearly to expand the mouth of the bag.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 8, the conveying table includes a conveying path made up of idler rollers 132. Below the conveying table 130, there is provided a carriage which is made up of an upstanding side panel 134 which is adapted to move in a path parallel to the conveying path, and to which are mounted a pair of lateral panels 136 and 138, of which panel 138 is adjustable. Both panels 136 and 138 extend across the conveying'path in spaced parallel relationship.

The side panel 134 rolls along the side of the conveying path on rollers on the bottom platform 137. An elongated bearing rail may be provided on the side of the roller structure 132 abutting against the side panel 134. Finally, guide rollers 140 engage aginst the upper portion of the side panel and support it in a vertical plane. Lateral panels 136 and 138 are mounted to the side panel 134 so that they can be adapted for different sized packages, be it with two, three or four pouch parcels. The side panel is caused to move by a mechanism provided underneath the conveying table 130 including a piston and cylinder arrangement with piston rod 148 to which is mounted a sprocket 146. A track or chain device 144 is mounted to anchor blocks 142 on the support 137. A further track or chain 152 is mounted to the side panel 134 and as the piston rod 148 is retracted or extended out of the cylinder 150, the sprocket 146 which travels on the fixed chain 144 will transmit the movement to the chain 152 which is fixed to the sliding side panel 134.

Referring now to F168. 10 and 11, only one of the sealing units 18 and 20 is shown, including a guide member 156 with a cylinder and piston arrangement 158 connected thereto, and to a cold plate 162 adapted to slide on the guide member 156.

On the opposite side of stand 10 there is a guide member 164 and a piston and cylinder arrangement mounted thereon for moving a heating element and housing 166 which is connected to a plate 172. An

insulation member 168 separates the heating element housing 166 from the plate 172 and a hot bar 174 is connected to the housing 166 above the insulation. Finally, a deflection member 176 is provided on the end of the plate 172 for deflecting the part of the outer bag as the top is being sealed.

Above the sealing arrangement is an outer bag opening and tensioning device which includes a piston and cylinder arrangement 178 mounted to the frame with the piston connected to a crank arm 180 pivoted to the frame and an extension rod is connected to the crank arm 180 and to a further crank arm 184 so that the crank arms 180 and 184 will move in unison. Tension rods 186 and 188 are connected to the crank arms and move between a position inwardly thereof to a position where the tension rods move away from each other to a vertical position gripping the inside of the outer bag and holding it.

In operation, as the outer bag with the plurality of hold it in a position to be sealed. The piston and cylin der arrangements 158 and 160 are then activated to move the cold plate 162 and the hot bar 174 towards each other thereby sandwiching the upper edge of the outer bag and, of course, sealing the edges.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for supplying a plurality of elongated articles into a container comprising means for advancing and feeding the plurality of elongated articles one by one; an article receiving cradle having at least one end wall and a retractable bottom wall; means pivoting the cradle between a first position whereby said end wall is inclined from the vertical below the angle of rest of said elongated articles and adapted to receive a plurality of articles fed from the advancing means stacked in side-by-side relation in the cradle and a second position wherein said end wall is above the angle of rest of said articles, means adapted to retract said bottom wall when the cradle is in said second position, means below and adjacent said bottom wall when said cradle is in said second position for opening and locating a container for receiving the articles as the articles are dropped simultaneously from the cradle.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the elongated articles are liquid filled flexible pouches and the container is an outer flexible bag.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the advancing means includes conveyor means for advancing the liquid filled pouches one by one, the conveyor means including a delivery zone whereby the pouches are fed into the cradle when the cradle is in its first position and the delivery zone of the conveyor means is above the end wall of the cradle when the cradle is in said first position.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein a pouch stabilizing means is provided in the delivery zone of the conveyor means.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein the pouch stabilizing means includes a resilientlymounted roller spaced above the top run of the conveyor a distance less than the normal thickness of the pouch whereby when the pouch is delivered from the conveyor means, the resiliently-mounted roller will effectively prevent the elongated pouch from somersaulting into the cradle thereby allowing the pouch to drop from the delivery zone with the axis thereof substantially parallel to the plane of the end wall.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the end wall includes a bracket journalled on a pivot shaft mounted to the frame and motor means are connected to the frame and to the cradle for positively reciprocating the cradle from the first to the second position.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the cradle includes a side wall at and adjacent to the end wall, the bottom wall being hingedly connected to said side wall, cam means mounted to the frame, a cam follower mounted to the bottom wall, such that when the cradle is in the first position, the cam follower and the cam means retain the bottom wall in a position at 90 to the end wall and to the side wall, closing the bottom of the cradle, and when the cradle is in said second position, the cam follower and the cam means allow the bottom wall to pivot about the hinge axis to a position in the same plane as the side wall.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the means for opening and locating the flexible container bag for receiving the articles includes a wicket means adjacent the path of fall of the pouches for supplying the outer bags, air pressure nozzle means for initially opening the outer bag from the wicket, spaced-apart opposed jaw means adapted to engage and initially open the outer bag, to fully open the bag and to retain the bag while the pouches are being dropped from the cradle.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the jaws are of shovel-shaped construction and include bottom ends, and the shovel-shaped jaws are adapted to pivot from a first position wherein the bottom ends are relatively in close proximity and a second position wherein the jaws are pivoted downwardly with the bottom ends of the jaws spaced further apart and the jaws in substantially vertical position engaging the inner periphery of the outer bag.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the shovel-shaped jaws are adapted to pivot downwardly and move linearly outwardly relative to each other, so as to both engage the inner periphery of the bag and to slightly stretch the bag thereby retaining the bag while the pouches are being dropped therein.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein linkage means are provided for pivoting and moving the jaws linearly outwardly.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein said linkage means are connected to a reciprocal motor means, and the linkage means includes a first arm pivoted to a fixed pivot on the frame, said first arm being hinged to a second arm fixed to the jaw at one end and to the end of the reciprocal motor means at the other end thereof, stop means being provided on the frame for limiting the movement of the linkage means.

. 13. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein a conveying table is provided at right angles to the path of the dropping container and pouches, and carriage means are provided on said conveying table for alternately moving a filled container in opposite directions on the conveying table.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the conveying table is provided with the surface made up of idler rollers, and a carriage is adjacent said surface and includes abutment means for moving the container on said idler roller surface alternately in one direction and the other.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein the carriage slides in guide means on the side of the idler roller surface and is actuated by a reciprocal motor means having a sprocket riding on a fixed track, and the sprocket is adapted to engage a track fixed to the carriage means.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein a sealing station is provided adjacent the carriage means for alternately sealing the open end of the flexible con- 

1. An apparatus for supplying a plurality of elongated articles into a container comprising means for advancing and feeding the plurality of elongated articles one by one; an article receiving cradle having at least one end wall and a retractable bottom wall; means pivoting the cradle between a first position whereby said end wall is inclined from the vertical below the angle of rest of said elongated articles and adapted to receive a plurality of articles fed from the advancing means stacked in side-by-side relation in the cradle and a second position wherein said end wall is above the angle of rest of said articles, means adapted to retract said bottom wall when the cradle is in said second position, means below and adjacent said bottom wall when said cradle is in said second position for opening and locating a container for receiving the articles as the articles are dropped simultaneously from the cradle.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the elongated articles are liquid filled flexible pouches and the container is an outer flexible bag.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the advancing means includes conveyor means for advancing the liquid filled pouches one by one, the conveyor means including a delivery zone whereby the pouches are fed into the cradle when the cradle is in its first position and the delivery zone of the conveyor means is above the end wall of the cradle when the cradle is in said first position.
 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein a pouch stabilizing means is provided in the delivery zone of the conveyor means.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein the pouch stabilizing means includes a resiliently-mounted roller spaced above the top run of the conveyor a distance less than the normal thickness of the pouch whereby when the pouch is delivered from the conveyor means, the resiliently-mounted roller will effectively prevent the elongated pouch from somersaulting into the cradle thereby allowing the pouch to drop from the delivery zone with the axis thereof substantially parallel to the plane of the end wall.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the end wall includes a bracket journalled on a pivot shaft mounted to the frame and motor means are connected to the frame and to the cradle for positively reciprocating the cradle from the first to the second position.
 7. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the cradle includes a side wall at 90* and adjacent to the end wall, the bottom wall being hingedly connected to said side wall, cam means mounted to the frame, a cam follower mounted to the bottom wall, such that when the cradle is in the first position, the cam follower and the cam means retain the bottom wall in a position at 90* to the end wall and to the side wall, closing the bottom of the cradle, and when the cradle is in said second position, the cam follower and the cam means allow the bottom wall to pivot about the hinge axis to a position in the same plane as the side wall.
 8. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the means for opening and locating the flexible container bag for receiving the articles includes a wicket means adjacent the path of fall of the pouches for supplying the outer bags, air pressure nozzle means for initially opening the outer bag from the wicket, spaced-apart opposed jaw means adapted to engage and initially open the outer bag, to fully open the bag and to retain the bag while the pouches are being dropped from the cradle.
 9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the jaws are of shovel-shaped construction and include bottom ends, and the shovel-shaped jaws are adapted to pivot from a first position wherein the bottom ends are relatively in close proximity and a second position wherein the jaws are pivoted downwardly with the bottom ends of the jaws spaced further apart and the jaws in substantially vertical position engaging the inner periphery of the outer bag.
 10. An apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the shovel-shaped jaws are adapted to pivot downwardly and move linearly outwardly relative to each other, so as to both engage the inner periphery of the bag and to slightly stretch the bag thereby retaining the bag while the pouches are being dropped therein.
 11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein linkage means are provided for pivoting and moving the jaws linearly outwardly.
 12. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein said linkage means are connected to a reciprocal motor means, and the linkage means includes a first arm pivoted to a fixed pivot on the frame, said first arm being hinged to a second arm fixed to the jaw at one end and to the end of the reciprocal motor means at the other end thereof, stop means being provided on the frame for limiting the movement of the linkage means.
 13. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein a conveying table is provided at right angles to the path of the dropping container and pouches, and carriage means are provided on said conveying table for alternately moving a filled container in opposite directions on the conveying table.
 14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the conveying table is provided with the surface made up of idler rollers, and a carriage is adjacent said surface and includes abutment means for moving the container on said idler roller surface alternately in one direction and the other.
 15. An apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein the carriage slides in guide means on the side of the idler roller surface and is actuated by a reciprocal motor means having a sprocket riding on a fixed track, and the sprocket is adapted to engage a track fixed to the carriage means.
 16. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein a sealing station is provided adjacent the carriage means for alternately sealing the open end of the flexible containers.
 17. An apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein tensioning means are provided for first engaging the open end of the flexible bag container and retaining it while it is being sealed.
 18. An apparatus as defined in claim 17, wherein said tensioning means includes a pair of elongated fingers adapted for opposite pivoting movement from a position inwardly pivoted where the ends thereof are in close relative proximity in a position outwardly relative to each other engaging the inner periphery of the outer bag. 